My Scary Valentine
by Cristya Blade
Summary: The holiday lands are participating in an exchange program and Mai from Valentines and Joey from Thanksgiving are both malcontents secretly selected to participate. But when things go awry on Jack and Sally's end, they're in for a scary surprise. MaixJo
1. Lists and Lamentations

A/N: Hello and welcome all, I'm sure the first question on your mind for this fanfiction is: What the heck? Well yes that's a valid question. It is a strange combination. But the idea came when I was watching Nightmare Before Christmas (out of duty, because it was Halloween) and I started going through all of my favorite pairings deciding what holiday the characters would be from. So of course it was granted that Mai Valentine (from YGO) would be from Valentines, given her name. So that's how it began, and I had been wanting to write another MaixJoey fic any way, so there we have it. So this is listed as a Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover with The Nightmare Before Christmas. It will be taking place in TNBC universe, but the main focus will be on the characters Mai and Joey as I am partial to that pairing and actually not that big a fan of Nightmare.

As this is both a (late) Halloween AND Christmas present to anyone out there who may still be reading my MaixJoey fics, I will be planning on posting one chapter a week from now until Christmas (or until finished). Happy Holidays! Hope you enjoy.

P.S. I've noticed Nightmare Before Christmas rather lends itself to run-on sentences, don't you think? Sorry if this format bothers you.

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><p>Jack leaned back in his chair almost to the point of falling backwards. He didn't notice this, but Sally gently approached him from behind and put her hand on his shoulder to steady him.<p>

"Jack, what's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, Sally! Nothing much. Nothing much, I suppose."

"Well," she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and nudged his chair upright, to which he happily took the hint and sat up. "I thought things were going better since all the holiday towns started communicating with one another?"

"Oh, they are! Wonderfully! Swimmingly! There's so many new things to discover. For instance, when I went to Easter Town to apologize personally for that mistaken kidnapping incident all that time ago, I swear to you I saw more of what they called _pastel_ than I've ever seen in my whole life. Everything was eggs and ducks and bunnies," Jack didn't especially seem delighted at the memory, but he looked up at Sally and smiled.

"You might like Easter Town my dear."

Sally smiled back and seated herself on his desk, knowing she'd get a good show of him pacing if she asked the question that was practically pulling at her stitches.

"So if things are going so well, why do you look so concerned?"

Jack stood up, opened his mouth, closed it again, furrowed his brows (or rather what remained thereof), and as expected began to pace.

"It's beneficial to be sure, and I've seen so much! But I can't help but feel that the others' view of us is equally- no, more so!- just a little _skewed_ because they just don't understand what we have to offer!"

Sally watched Jack stalk across the room speaking in cadence with his own footsteps. He couldn't help it, showmanship was practically built into him.

"So what you're saying is that you... don't exactly think they like us?" Sally shifted nervously on the desk. Honestly they'd already been through this back when all the holidays had first met together, why did Jack care if they were liked or not?

"No, not exactly. Where I take issue is with this exchange program we've been working with."

Sally personally thought the exchange program was a wonderful idea. People who weren't content with their station or even people who just needed a break could temporarily swap the towns they were living in. The vacation often did them good and in some rare cases the change could become permanent. But the program was wonderful, it had breathed life back into Halloween Town- figuratively, of course- because the new visitors were always so fun to scare.

"They just need a little perspective Jack. Don't forget, you've been through that too."

"Ah, that's why I love you Sally," he sighed and smiled at her briefly before going back to pacing. "Still, I can't help but feel that, well... People are being sent here as a sort of punishment."

Sally plucked nervously on a loose string. She couldn't exactly deny it- the majority of visitors didn't look as if they were happy to be here when they came. But some acclimated well. Still, Halloween Town was the only town that, as of yet, no outsiders had opted to permanently make a transfer to.

"We are what we are Jack," she sighed. The string she'd been playing with frayed and her hand dropped to the floor.

"I know," he said, bending over to retrieve the limb and clutching it between his own bony fingers. He gave it a fond pat before returning it to her.

"It doesn't matter what they think so long as we're happy with ourselves. And you look after everyone in Halloween Town so well. We're all happy. At least I certainly am. Aren't you?"

Jack bent down; a spindly, angly sort of pose, and touched his cold bony forehead to her soft giving one.

"Of course I am. I have everything a man could ever want, Pumpkin King or not."

Her makeshift eyelashes tickled his bones as she batted her eyes at him and he laughed joyfully, his temporary moodiness forgotten.

"Alright then," he said, sweeping two pieces of paper off the table in a grandiose motion, "I've two requests. Which should I fulfill?"

"Are we only doing one at a time then?" Sally asked biting off the thread that remained after the quick repair job on her hand.

Jack pondered this. "Well we've never _had_ multiple requests. I suppose we could, although I'd need to find two people to go in exchange. The only ones who have volunteered lately are Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and I'm sure they just want to cause trouble."

"We could go; you and I," Sally said, sliding off the table and trying to reach for the papers as Jack smiled slyly and held them above his head.

"Oh, come on, Halloween's over and you have time for a break. And I've never been outside Halloween before!"

Jack continued to hold the papers above his head and tried to read them while laughing at Sally's attempts to reach.

"Ah, they're not from the same town though," his face fell. "_Although_..." the unmistakable look of curiosity passed over his face, "I haven't ever been to Thanksgiving Town before."

Sally dropped back on her heels, surrendering for now.

"And where's the other request from?"

"Hmm? Oh." Jack made a face. "Valentines."

"Oh, I'd like to visit there. We could go, Jack. After all, these things only last a week or two."

He sighed. _A week or two_. Sally was resourceful to be sure, but Jack wasn't completely convinced he wanted her first trip out of Halloween Town to be an unaccompanied one. It could be a little overwhelming. Still, with the look she was giving him, he didn't really have the option of saying no.

"Alright," he granted, but he immediately held up a bony finger before she could get too excited. "Conditionally!"

"Yes, of course," she said whirling around awkwardly but happily, "and what would that be?"

Jack bent over to dig messily through a cabinet before returning triumphantly holding up a vial of an odd color.

"The transition between worlds can be a little rough, and to top it off at the end there you take a bit of a tumble."

Sally shrugged. It wasn't anything she hadn't been through before, she was sure.

"I don't want you losing any pieces," he shook a finger at her.

"Ah."

"The witches made me this potion a while ago. I haven't tried it but they said it made the transitions between worlds much easier- and instantaneous too. We'll travel this way this time, agreed?"

Sally nodded absently as she retrieved two cups. "How does it work?"

"Oh it's simple really, read the sheet of information here and concentrate on the person."

"Sounds easy enough," Sally said skimming her sheet as Jack did the same.

"Well then milady," Jack linked the arm holding the glass with hers, "Bottoms up."

"Bottoms up!" she agreed, "See you in a we-"

Unfortunately Sally was unable to finish her sentence, as both of their bodies had fallen promptly to the floor.


	2. In Mai and Joey's Case

A/N: Special deal, this week only you get two chapters. The first reason being that this is the second week of November and I really should have had the first chapter posted in the first week (whoops). The second reason being that I wanted to introduce Mai and Joey right away and not just leave things with Jack and Sally. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh, also, please be aware I know that Vantines should, in fact, be spelled Valentine's because it is a name and would therefore be posessive. So it should be Valentine's Day, Valentine's Town, etc. But I'm just going to leave it Valentines. This is because of laziness. Thank you.

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><p>Mai Valentine looked around the pink and red hued mess that was her home. Her bed was a fluffy red, her chairs a sleek hot pink, and her carpet a plush pastel rose. Life in The Corps was grotesque.<p>

She'd tried to quit The Cupid Corps a couple of times before, but she kept crawling back. What it all came down to really was that a paycheck was a paycheck. Valentines Town was expensive, and while she did have to admit that she had expensive tastes _anyway_, everything here cost a bundle. Considering that things supposedly revolved around love, sometimes it really seemed as if love was measured by the amount of money spent. If left a bitter taste for Mai and was one of the reasons she'd already tried to quit several times.

But there was another risk that came with not being part of The Corps, aside from bankruptcy. In Valentines Town you were either Cupid, their leader; in The Corps, so basically a minion; or one of the nameless rabble of lovestruck victims. Literally love _struck_, they shot them with arrows for goodness sake.

Mai sighed and looked in the mirror as she straightened her uniform. To whom would she bring the _wondrous_ gift of love today?

She remembered her last victim- client, _client_; a young girl out having fun with her friends. All giggling and talking and generally having a good time. She'd shot her without a second thought and then watched the smile slowly leave her face as she saw her destined boy. She wasn't a part of the group any more, not happy or giggling but just starting at a guy. Mai felt slightly uncomfortable at this but it wasn't uncommon- people usually turned a little dumb at love's first effects. But it was only where the drama began. The next time Mai had happened to pass by the girl she was talking about the guy- and nothing else. Her friends were humoring her but from the looks they shot each other she could tell they were tired of the topic. Ok... so love made other people hate you. Good to know. The next time she saw the girl in passing, she girl was weeping; seriously, _weeping_. Love made you cry, then. Great.

Everyone talked about how fantastic love was but Mai could never understand what they meant. Sure she had seen people happy together, being nice to one another. But she could see that in single people too. Love, it seemed, was either sap or drama; neither of which she wanted.

Besides, how great could love be any way if there were people around like her? With Cupid's Arrows, love wasn't a choice. What if the target didn't want to be shot? What if they weren't ready? What if they wanted to be with someone else and then BAM- they got shot? Mai wondered if anyone in this town actually knew what love was. It seemed too complicated just to be what they made it. So somehow she doubted, as obsessed as they were with it, that any of them understood.

Mai sighed and slung her quiver over her shoulder and went to grab her bow when suddenly, she had a dizzy spell. She blinked and stared at her hands as they slowly came back into focus.

_How weird. Maybe I shouldn't-_

The next thing she saw was the ceiling, and then blackness.

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><p>Joy Wheeler hated his name. He'd always resented his parents for giving him a girl's name. He hated it so much, in fact, that he'd subtly changed it to Joey. Luckily it had caught on; and pretty much everyone, his family included, called him Joey now. That was, they did except for around Thanksgiving. He had to be Joy then, it was part of the whole pomp and ceremony shindig they put on. Joey thought it was the biggest farce in history, not to mention it was the reason for his wussy name. Needless to say, he hated it too.<p>

Thanksgiving Town was eternally stuck in the perfect stage of fall. Everything revolved around the harvest and family and of course a _huge_ feast. But rather than eating whatever you wanted at home, there was that ceremony involved. All the participants had to dress up in ridiculous and uncomfortable Pilgrim or Indian outfits and sit around a huge table acting and eating as the others just _watched_. It was supposedly an honor to be picked as part of the ceremony and you could only be picked if they could find a way to associate your name with the holiday. Hence the reason his parents had named him Joy- it was a selfish ploy to get him chosen. His sister, Serenity, had also recently been picked. In public his parents acted proud of them. In private, well... that was a different story.

Joey thought it was ironic that he and his sister were supposed to represent joyous and serene feelings at the feast. Their life was far from either of those. Joey wasn't depressed or anything, but there was very little actual joy in his life. And his sister- well, serenity was not what their home life was conducive to.

At the moment Joey was hating the word Thanksgiving and wondering just what there was to be thankful for. His dad was drunk yet again, and he was leaning against the door as his father rammed into it from the other side.

"Serenity," he looked pleadingly at his sister, who was trying not to cry in a corner, "get me something to barricade the door with, will ya? We'll be alright, ok?"

Serenity nodded and grabbed a chair from the closet, pushing it up against the knob as Joey continued to hold the door.

"You go out the window and go to the neighbor's, ok? I'll handle this, don't worry," he whispered.

Serenity only nodded again, staring blankly, and climbed out the window.

Thanksgiving was stupid. Time after time Joey wondered why their mother didn't leave that man and take them with her. But no, Thanksgiving was a time of _togetherness_, such a thing was unheard of. The only time he'd had the nerve to suggest it she immediately shot him down. They had to stay together; after all, he and Serenity were part of the ceremony, that stupid all-important ceremony.

Joey sat in the chair and felt the knob push into his back as his father shouted and banged on the door. He slumped over, head in his hands, and wished he was somewhere else. In a moment, he was.


	3. Hello Dolly!

A/N: I've noticed these chapters are a bit short compared to my usual. Sorry about that. But in any case, here's this week's chapter! Enjoy (if anyone is reading)!

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><p>Mai groaned and rubbed her head. Everything felt so fuzzy. She moved an arm and it scraped against something a lot less soft than her carpet. Wood, she decided. <em>But... my place doesn't have wood floors.<em>

Her eyes snapped open. Wherever she was had a black ceiling and strange candles and an odd sort of chandelier which clashed horribly with the colored lights wrapped around it. She murmured and attempted to sit up, feeling a bit... askew. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a lock of red hair and would have been slightly more concerned about it if she hadn't sat up at that moment and spotted directly in front of her, a skeleton.

Her scream filled the room and- to her horror- _geez is this actually happening?-_ caused the skeleton to jerk to life. It sat up and opened its eyes... or lack thereof, and her scream grew to fill the whole house. Its head snapped around, eyes widening as they settled on her, and its toothy mouth gaped open. He shook and reached a pointy hand at her, which he proceeded to look down at, and screamed in return. Her shriek grew yet again and she scrambled backwards.

He put his bony hands up to his skull and felt around while she tried to rise and found it more difficult than usual.

"You're a- I'm a- I mean, you're a- I-I'm a..." the skeleton sat on the floor rocking back and forth, apparently caught in some kind of loop. Mai finally rose, hardly noticing that her skin was covered in blue stitching.

"You're what?" she finally demanded to the figure on the floor.

"I... I think I'm a skeleton..." it said bluntly.

"W-way to state the obvious!"

"Y..." he looked up and stared with those unsettling... eyes. "You're a doll."

Mai was confused. What was he, from the 20's? Of course she was a girl. Were girls really so uncommon wherever they were that he had to be shocked about her?

"Just how old are you gramps?"

"I'm... I'm a skeleton," he repeated, seemingly to himself.

Mai was scared but considering how stupid he seemed at the moment he was probably harmless.

"So who are you? Where am I?" Mai tried not to sound as afraid as she was.

The skeleton looked up. "A doll. Is talking. You're a doll."

"Don't women talk where you're from?"

"Women do! But not _dolls_!"

Mai caught another flash of red out of the corner of her eye and glanced over to the side. There was something reflective there...

Mai jumped as she caught sight of a huge, ragged-looking doll. She did not notice the doll jump as well. She whirled to look behind her, throwing herself a bit off kilter, but nothing was there. She turned back slowly to the mirror. Her face fell. She cautiously approached it and held out a hand. The reflection did as well, and she looked down to notice a dull colored stitched skin. And that was when the screaming began yet again.

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><p>Joey watched as the living doll in front of him stared at herself in a mirror and freaked out. Ever so slowly, the fraying edges of his brain started to attempt to come back together. So... judging by her reaction... did she not know she was a doll? But then again, he wasn't a skeleton. He looked back down at his hands. But he... <em>was<em> a skeleton..? He felt winded and tried not to panic as he thought, _can I even be winded without lungs?_ The doll may have been thoroughly checking herself out in the mirror, but he wasn't sure he would be ready to catch a glimpse of himself in it.

Joey tried to review the events that had happened that day and briefly wondered that, since he was a skeleton... did that mean his father had killed him?

"The _afterlife_? Is this the afterlife?"

"That may make sense for you, but if it were why would I be a doll?"

"R-right," he said nervously, taking a deep breath. That is, he took one if he was, in fact, breathing.

Joey shakily tried to rise, finding it more awkward than usual. Once he finally made it to two legs, he found he was much taller than he remembered and he pitched straight forward into the doll.

"Yeowch, ow. Geez, I'm sorry!"

"Get _off_ of me!" she shouted, shoving him and knocking him back down.

"Ah, being a bit rough are we?" a voice came from the front of the room and caused them both to jump slightly.

"Just came in when I heard the screaming," a genial yet oddly shaped man with a tall, thin hat said. He waddled towards them, "Sorry I let myself in, thought you might be preparing for next Halloween."

Joey glanced over to the doll and thought he saw a faint glimmer of recognition in her eyes. She looked down at him and gave him a stern look. _What the heck did I do?_

"No, sorry, we were... playing a game," she said, moving forward awkwardly.

"Oh, of what sort?"

"To see if you can... name everyone in the room." She fiddled nervously with her hands. The little man eyed her awkwardly.

"I didn't say it was an _interesting_ game," she attempted to shrug, but one shoulder rose and fell before the other.

"Well, I'm the mayor," he pointed slowly towards Joey, "that's Jack," he turned his finger up towards the doll, "and you're Sally."

"You win!" she clapped her hands excitedly and walked over to the man, turning him around and nudging him towards the door. "Congratulations!"

"So... did I come at a bad time?" the little man asked.

"Actually," Joey finally piped up, "we're-"

"Busy!" the doll interrupted loudly.

"No, I've got a couple of-"

"I'm sorry!" the little man cried as his head did a 180. Both Joey and the doll stopped in their tracks at his new white and black and rather toothy visage. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything intimate!"

Unfortunately the doll gathered herself before Joey managed to.

"Well there's no harm in it as long as you're leaving," she said with an extra hard shove. "Bye now!"

She slammed the door and leaned against it.

"Sally," she said lightly. He probably wasn't meant to hear that she was repeating the word under her breath. She finally looked up at him and eyed him long and hard. Joey could tell this day wasn't going to be getting any less strange any time soon.


	4. What a Tangled Web we Weave

A/N: I'm very sorry, this chapter is also short. I do promise a longer chapter next week. This week is Mai only and next week will be Joey only. Mai's is shorter because I feel she is slightly more astute. Ha ha. I hope you are enjoying. Thanks for your time.

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><p>Mai repeated the name Sally to herself softly, committing it to memory as she began to slowly traverse the room. <em>Halloween<em>, the man had said. That was a different holiday. She'd heard a little about it through second or third hand accounts of someone who had been sent there before. Well, at least she knew where she was now. But how had she gotten here from Valentines Town?

She looked out the window. It either had a horrible view, or perhaps a great one depending on your tastes. A cemetery and a whole town was visible when she looked out. None of the rest of the buildings looked too inviting. They were odd and drew her eyes all around until she had to confess she felt a bit dizzy. They were dark, straight, and angular, a stark contrast to Valentines Town where so many things were fluffy and rounded. But the man who had visited them made it seem like they belonged here. Was this their home?

Mai blanched. _Their_ home? Her and the skeleton? _Jack_, she corrected herself, he said the name was Jack. The man had asked if he had interrupted anything intimate and judging by a picture on the desk in front of her, they did seem to be together. The picture was of the skeleton and herself, well, her current form any way; but she had no memory of anything before now except Valentines Town.

She continued her slow and shaky amble to a shelf of trophies, on which stood several figures similar to that of the skeleton in the room, but with an orange head with yellow features. They all read "Jack: The Pumpkin King" and Mai wondered if it was an official or honorary title; but the little man had said he'd come to ask about plans for Halloween- if the skeleton was the one who planned the holiday wouldn't that make him the boss? That would explain the tall house they were in. But why was she-

Her question was immediately answered when, right past the trophy shelves, there was a huge portrait of her doll self and the skeleton. She'd seen enough wedding attire in Valentines to recognize it no matter _how_ strange it may be, and this was definitely wedding attire. There was a small plaque at the bottom that read "The Skellingtons." Things suddenly began to click into place in her mind. They were _married_.

"S... Sally?" a voice came nervously from behind her. "Are... are you ok?"

Mai turned and critically examined the figure on the floor. She tried to take stock. What exactly should she do in this situation?

Well, he'd called her Sally. Did he know her supposed name for the same reason she did, because that strange mayor had said it? Or did he know it because she was his... well...

She pondered some more. He had said _we_ to the guest, hadn't he? If he didn't know who she was, why in the world would he include her in a statement? She had done it, but it was obvious she was fabricating. He seemed too dumb or confused or both to lie.

Wait, but in the beginning there he had screamed just as much as she had. And yet no, that wasn't quite right. He hadn't started screaming until she screamed at him. But hadn't he been repeating to himself that he was a skeleton and she was a doll?

Mai crossed her arms, still staring critically at him. What if he was just saying those things to remind her? To comfort her? Since she had seemed to be freaking out...

It seemed unlikely but Mai thought she'd better play it safe. Until she figured out what was going on, there was no need for others to know who she really was. Let them think her the king's wife, it would be advantageous to her any way.

"Jack, dear," she said cautiously, "I'm so sorry. I must have passed out. It must have thrown me a little, you know. I'm better now, are you alright?"

"I'm..." there was a pointed silence. "Well, good. Yes, I'm fine."

"Ah good." Mai fiddled with her hands and immediately stopped since it pulled on her strings. "Why don't you, uh, get back to that Halloween planning the mayor was talking about then?" She wanted more time to find answers and she didn't need him in the way until she knew how to play her part better.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "ok."

He gathered himself and walked slowly back over to the desk which had the window view. He looked so natural there that Mai felt even less sure of herself. She had to find a way not to slip up until she could get back to Valentines. If only she would have looked at him a moment longer her eyes might have drifted down to his feet and a couple of papers that had fallen under the desk, one of which said her actual name. But she looked away quickly and turned to the door, heading out into the veritable unknown.


	5. Fake It 'Til You Make It

A/N: Welcome back, anyone who may be reading this. We're on week 5 (hooray) and for those of you who may feel the story has been moving slowly, I promise it will pick up from here now that things are established. I generally write humor or romance so I suspect that's what you're here for. You'll get it, I swear! This is the last establishment chapter for Mai and Joey, and next week we'll take a look back into how Jack and Sally are doing. Hang in there and hope you enjoy!

Also, no promises but it looks like this fanfiction is going to be a bit long and I don't want to have to post ALL of it on Christmas because I have other fanfic projects I'm working on then. So I'm thinking about posting two chapters a week maybe? If anyone ever reads this? Thanks again.

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><p>The scrutinizing look she was giving him was almost too much. Joey sat there, still trying to puzzle out what had just happened. She didn't look all that sure of herself, either. What had the man said her name was again?<p>

"S-Sally?"

Given the odd circumstances he wasn't sure she actually was who the man said she was. After all, he wasn't this Jack person... Ok well apparently he _was_, but he also wasn't. But surely if he was wrong about her name she would correct him.

"Are... are you ok?"

She turned back to him after having sauntered around the sides of the room and examined him more carefully. Joey tried to look confident but felt like he was only inches tall.

"Jack, dear, I'm so sorry."

She wasn't correcting him about her name. And she had just called him Jack, _no_, Jack _dear_.

"I must have passed out. It must have thrown me a little, you know? I'm better now, are you alright?"

"Um..." Joey wondered what he should do. She was acting like she knew him but he certainly didn't know her. Or where he was. Or why.

Well, if there was one thing he had learned living the way he did at home, it was never to lie. Also, never tell the truth. In his family, everyone always just acted like everything was fine whether it was or not. The behavior was deeply ingrained into him. And for once, he was glad it was. He would just have to try and act as if everything was fine until he could get back home. _If_ he could get back home...

"Well good. Yes, I'm fine," he replied eventually.

"Ah good. Why don't you, uh, get back to that Halloween planning the mayor was talking about then?"

Joey had no idea what Halloween was. It sounded familiar but he just couldn't place it. The only thing he remotely recognized were the pumpkins that were randomly strewn about, but he had no idea why there were pointy faces carved into them.

"Yeah, ok," he said, dazed. He gathered himself up and walked to the desk. Not only did it seem like a good place to start but he could also lean on it to support himself, as unused to his new height as he was.

The doll- Sally, _Sally_, he reminded himself- left and he found he was glad to be alone. He tried to replay the last little while in his head again... at his house, his dad drunk once more, his mother locked herself in the bathroom, and he and his sister trying to barricade themselves-

Oh no, Serenity! He hoped she had gone to the neighbors like he'd told her to. They sort of had an idea of what was going on, they'd take care of her. He let out a deep breath and really _really_ hoped that was the case.

He gazed over the view out the window and realized that maybe at the moment he had bigger problems. He didn't recognize the scenery at all. He was used to browns and crisp reds and oranges and even yellow sometimes... this place was a dull black and gray and white. What color there was almost seemed muted by the dark surroundings. It was a change from the usual so he felt unnerved, but at least the colors were easy on the eyes. And, dang, the buildings were quite a sight! He felt the corners of his mouth turn up as he looked at the odd angles and askew shapes. There was nothing this interesting where he came from. Everything looked classical and boring. He couldn't quite make out any of the figures moving around below but... they didn't look normal either. But then again, he was a skeleton, so what was normal here?

He finally risked straightening to his full height. He was tall where he came from but nothing compared to his height here. He turned to face the room and tried to take everything in. Then, with one final gulp, he turned to face the mirror. His reaction could have been worse, but he wasn't sure how. After the panic attack subsided he gave himself another once over. Some kind of suit... an oddly shaped bow tie... and oh, something on the ring finger of his left hand. It did not fully register to him what this meant.

He started to investigate the room absent mindedly, perhaps hoping to find some big glowing sign that said "This is a dream!" but he had no such luck. The most notable feature in the room was a large portrait of himself (well himself as a skeleton) with that doll.

Sally, he shook his head; how could he pretend things were fine if he forgot her name?

The longer he stared at the picture, the more a slow realization dawned on him. They were wearing fancy clothes. They were holding hands and both wearing rings. The plaque on the frame said "The Skellingtons." It looked like his parent's wedding pictures. Joey clutched his head. They were _married_! His urge to get back home increased exponentially as he ran towards the door. He would ask the nearest person which way to Thanksgiving Town and book it!

He paused when his hand hit the knob. Could he just go up to a random person and ask that? It would be strange even where he came from. And besides, how could he go home looking like _this_?

He groaned as he realized he was actually going to have to figure things out before he could go home. And he'd have to keep the act up until then.

He walked to the nearest wall, which in fact was a bookshelf, and banged his head on it in dismay. The jarring knocked a book out and it hit him on the head before falling to the floor. Joey rubbed his skull as he bent to pick it up. The title read "Journal Volume 4" in grand yet rushed script. He slowly arose and read through the other titles. The Dictionary, Scientific Method, The Night Before Christmas... wow, a lot of Christmas books followed. Hadn't they called whatever this place was Halloween?

He sighed and reached for the stack of journals. If answers were anywhere, they'd probably be there.


	6. Seeing Red

A/N: Just for you Obi, because you're the only one who actually reads this story and you wanted Sally's reaction so badly, here is next week's chapter a week early. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Next time's chapter will be Jack, and then we'll be back to Mai and Joey : )

Unfortunately the story has been placed on hiatus for now until the holidays are over. It was intended as a gift for my MaiJo fans but only one person (to my knowledge) is reading it, so I'm in no hurry to work on it for now and I have other projects. Lol. But I will continue it. Thanks.

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><p>Sally moaned as she rubbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut even tighter.<p>

"Jack, I don't think it worked, I think the witches just poisoned us as a joke. What did they..."

Her voice didn't sound like hers.

"... put..."

Her hair felt different against her skin, too.

"... in that potion?"

Sally opened her eyes and had to blink for a few moments while they adjusted. Everything was so... _red and __pink_. And such vibrant shades of it, too! She dug her fingers into the soft carpet. No signs of dust or cobwebs at all. She looked down at her hand and jerked in surprise.

_Oh my, Jack wasn't kidding when he said the transition could be rough._

Sally examined her hands more carefully. Such an odd color. So smooth. But with tiny little wrinkles everywhere.

_That's funny... Jack never mentioned the way he looked changing when he went to other towns..._

Sally shook her head. Of course he hadn't. He was the type who was always too busy focusing on other things to actually take a moment to focus on himself. She stood up and oddly enough felt the urge to... oh, she wasn't sure, _elongate_ herself. She held her hands above her head as she did so, and as she began to stretch, inside of her she felt- oh no, was that- _crackling_? She snapped back into a neutral position immediately. _Oh no, I've broken it_. She cautiously tested to make sure everything that was supposed to move still did. Luckily, everything seemed fine. She breathed a sigh of relief and scanned the room once more. There were weapons spread on the floor where she'd gotten up from. What kind of place was Valentines?

Sally also wondered vaguely if she was now some kind of weird human version of herself. She tried not to get too excited but was imagining what she might look like all the same. Her excitement calmed a bit when she bent down to pick up the bow and arrows and a blond lock of hair fell into her periphery. Since when was she blond?

Sally straightened up and, not knowing what else to do with them, set the weapons on a chair. She brushed the wrinkles out of her clothes nervously and tried to think. She was warm. Still squishy, but with harder parts now, too. And an odd sense of balance. Not worse, just different. She slowly, carefully walked through the place until she spotted a mirror. No, she wasn't a human version of herself. She let out a little sigh. Her image looked like the one on the paper she'd been reading over before she passed out.

_So then, I'm her..?_

Sally felt slightly uncomfortable. She hadn't realized switching places involved switching _bodies_. It seemed like a very personal invasion. Why hadn't anyone mentioned this before? She stared back in the mirror into the violet eyes that looked right at her.

"Don't worry Mai, I'll do my best to maintain you properly!"

Sally gave herself another quick once over and figured that as long as she was here, she might as well make the most of it. In the back of her mind she also thought she understood a little better how Jack might have felt his first time in Christmas Town. Everything was so... different. Colors here were bright. Things were rounded and soft-looking. She marvelled at everything as she walked around the small home.

The most interesting part of it was the bathroom. At first Sally thought it might have been the kitchen, since many of the bottles looked similar to potion bottles she would use. But all they did was produce smells or colors, they weren't easy to open, and once she tasted them she immediately spit them back out. A large fluffy thing sat in a round box, and she pulled it out to examine it. It was soft and small and she wondered if it might be an animal of some sort. As she stroked it, her fingers turned white. She looked at it more closely and- to her surprise, her face kind of... exploded. It scared her. When the thing came close to her face her nose scrunched up and she made a loud _AH-CHOO_ noise and dropped the puff in surprise. The puff seemed to rebel as a cloud emerged out of it, and Sally ran out of the room.

Clutching her chest, which was bigger now and made out of something entirely different, she calmed as she realized the face explosion was a sneeze. People in Halloween Town did it too. It's just that she hadn't ever experienced it herself.

The rest of the home had devices just as odd and she decided that later she'd draw pictures of them and write down descriptions because Jack would be curious. Under the bed there was only dust; no snakes, no monster companions, no pet bats or spiders. The closet was equally empty, containing only clothes and shoes. Sally wondered, with such an uninhabited place, if Mai were lonely. But perhaps she had friends outside.

Sally felt loosely prepared to go out and meet people. She hesitated at the door, however, and looked back at the discarded bow and arrow. Obviously Mai had been about to take them with her, wherever she was going. Perhaps Valentines Town was dangerous. Sally wasn't an expert on these, or any other weapons for that matter, but her creator had extensive books about them. She was sure she could use it if necessary. She grabbed the set and headed out the door, a smile on her lips and a pleasant scary song in her head.


End file.
